England
England '(イギリス, ''Igirisu) is a main character in the anime and manga series '''Hetalia: Axis Powers. He represents both the United Kingdom and England, and is part of the Allied Forces. The English dub refers to him as Britain, a shortened and often informal way to refer to the United Kingdom. In 2008, Himaruya gave out human names to some of the characters and he received the name Arthur Kirkland (アーサー・カークランド, Āsā Kākurando).He is the youngest twin brother/son of Britannica and Ulther Pendragon and the Once and Future King who died at the hands of his son Mordred.He was rescued from his burial site by the Lady of the Lake and then was monitered over the years his twin brother also called England and Arthur was sent in to become "England" for him while he was recovering from the wound his son dealt him. Appearance Main Article: Uniform Guide: England England has messy, short blond hair and green eyes.He dresses in body armor up to his chin and chainmail armor.A red cloak is draped over his shoulders and pinned at the front.He wears a medieval tunic and a belt that holds a sword scabbard.His eyebrows are normal-sized eyebrows and his normal eyebrows are not shared with his twin brother. Personality and Interests Arthur is a lion-hearted former ruler of his country England which he repersents. In modern times he is shown being more soft-spoken than his twin brother who also repersents England.He is noted for being wonderful at cooking once France taught him and France notes him as being useful i any situation.According to Emily Kogane`s reply to my question about England`s interests it includes eating food,training,fighting,and protecting his country England. People flock to him because of his leadership skills and because of his simple kindness towards others.He is also noted as being tsundere.It has been mentioned that England has brothers, one representing Scotland, and the others presumably Wales and Northern Ireland, who hate him and used to drive him away with stones and arrows when he was a child, and even went as far as to mail him curses.Arthur also has a twin brother who also repersents the country of England and also has the name Arthur. Relationships England Main Article: England Despite "England" being his twin brother the two are bitter towards each other and they often snap at each other due to the fact that Arthur was the King of "England" his twin brother.However over time their hatred towards each other cooled down a whole lot however they still occassionally strangle each other whenever the other person brings it up in conversation.Due to that the other country personifications have learned not to metion it or get creamed by the twin brother closest to them usually it is "England" that is the closest to them.During the Fourth of July their relationship descends into chaos as both of them are yelling at each other.Their history is so historical that more countries don`t know it unless they are the brothers of "England" and England the twin brothers.Due to that hatred of each other they can`t be in the same room as each other and they have to be kept apart otherwise chaos will ensure. Spain Main Article: Spain Due to his kindness towards other country personifications unlike his brother Spain is happy being friends with him.The two are fast friends and Spain competes with a daily basis with England over who was the better warrior.They often are seen sparring with each other and sleeping together though England is oblivious to anybody`s affection. Seychelles It is revealed that Seychelles clung tightly to England when he was revealed to be the twin brother of "England/Arthur".Seychelles seems to regard England as her protector from the world and uses him a shield from the world. In the Anime England first appeared in Episode 1 where he is one of the only neutral parties the other neutral party being Switzerland on America`s plan to stop Global Warming.Later he is seen sighing as his twin brother "England" starts fighting with France only to be stopped by Germany. In the anime, his hair is more a vivid golden yellow shade of blonde,rather than the paler blonde used in the manga illustrations. Name The name Arthur is likely to be a reference to Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes Series,who was famed for his obsession with faires.It could also refer to the legendary King Arthur. Before fans settled on the Kirkland rendering (which was more accurate from the katakana), some earlier fanworks referred to his last name as Clarkland. Character Songs Marukaite Chikyuu (UK) Hatafutte Parade (England) Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo (England) England's Evil Demon Summoning Song Pub and GO! Absolutely Invincible British Gentleman Let's Enjoy Today My Friend Wa! Wa!! World Ondo (featured) We Wish You A Merry Christmas (featured) United Nations Star (featured) Trivia * He is referred to as United Kingdom, or UK for short, in most merchandise and in his character design on the official anime website (and in some merchandise and fanworks, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his full nation title). In other instances, however, he is referred to as England, most notably in Gakuen Hetalia and the English-language preview for America's Cleaning Of The Storage. The Japanese word Igirisu means Britain but is sometimes used to refer to England (normally rendered as Ingurando in katakana or eikoku in kanji) in colloquial speech. He is commonly referred to with either name by fans, though England tends to be used to differentiate him from his brothers (that represent the other parts of the UK). A note by Hidekaz Himaruya confirms that he would only be known as England to his brothers, while he would be known as UK to the others. However, the English dub refers to him as Britain. According to FUNimation, this was a request from the Japanese anime producers. * Although he's always called Igirisu in the manga and anime, historically, he would be known as simply England up until the 18th century, when The Kingdom of Great Britain was formed, uniting both England and Scotland (the Act of Union of Wales and England had already taken place 1536-1543). In the early 19th century, Ireland was added, creating The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After Ireland split to declare itself independent in 1919, the Irish War of Independence waged until 1922, when it became the Irish Free State. Six of the 32 counties of Ireland (mostly from the province of Ulster where there was a great English/Scottish population) rejoined the UK while the other 26 counties formed the Republic of Ireland. * A UK character is actually first seen at the end of Hetalia: Chapter 1, however, his design was not yet completely finalized. He appears as a short-haired man with a UK label on his shirt and with somewhat thinner eyebrows. Notes in the special booklet for the third volume of the published manga reveal that England was originally to have normal eyebrows, as well as have the appearance of a middle-aged man who dressed much younger. Himaruya decided to give him thicker eyebrows, as he liked the idea of a character having brows modeled after a Shiba Inu. * He appears to be modeled after the character Hikone Kalom from Himaruya's other webcomic Barjona Bombers, though he is the exact opposite of Kalom in personality. * His birthday could be referred to the 23rd of April, or St. George's Day. * Himaruya once stated that his eyebrows are actually trimmed, although they don't appear that way since they still remain thick in appearance. He has also stated that Ireland has thicker eyebrows, but with a "different feel" to them. * It is possible that he has a tattoo, for he mentions in his version of Marukaite Chikyuu that "My tattoo really hurts, but it's a hot six-string!" (six-string meaning electric guitar). * According to a blog post (11/14/10), ironically, island nation and former pirate England, can not swim (in reference to English people in movies,) although, historically, many pirates could not swim. Although, in the Gakuen Hetalia PSP game, he jumps into the water to save a drowning America. The original blogpost was a parody based on characters from English movies and there is nothing to suggest England cannot in fact swim, though the fandom seems to have adopted the idea misguidedly. * In a translated blog post (17 January 2015) of the official Himaruya blog, it is confirmed that his tattoo is located on his butt. * He is the twin brother of England and both repersent the country of England * He is King Arthur the Once and Future King and yet is England`s twin brother.It was confirmed by his character maker that he is in fact the twin brother of Arthur who held Excalibur and Avalon in his possession during his time as King of England. Category:Characters